The Hardest Mission
by Yuki-Shika
Summary: While they were attacking, Ino noticed Shikamaru had caught four of the mist ninjas, but she thought there were five. That's when Ino saw the fifth mist ninja come out from behind some bushes and ambushed Shikamaru. ShikaxIno fluff


The Hardest Mission

It was a very nice day. There were plenty of clouds. Just the type of day that Shikamaru loved. He was at his favorite spot for cloud watching. Shikamaru always envied the clouds, because they had nothing to worry about, they just floated around all day Shikamaru always wished he were that free.  
Suddenly, Chouji, Shikamaru?s best friend ran up to him. He said to Shikamaru,

"Shikamaru, Asuma-Sensei and Ino is waiting at the gate. You're late for the mission."  
Shikamaru sighed.

"Another mission? It's the third one this week. What a drag."  
He got up and followed Chouji to the village gate.  
When they got there, Shikamaru was ready to be nagged at. Asuma was smoking his cigarette as usual and looked very inpatient.

"Shikamaru, Where have you been all this time? Your extremely late."  
Shikamaru just looked at Asuma, Ino glared at Shikamaru, and Chouji was eating his chips as usual.

"Aright, let's go guys. Our mission is delivering this scroll to a women in the Water country."   
Asuma lifted up a scroll to show the team what it was.  
So they left the village to begin their journey to the Water country and to deliver the scroll. They made it to the Water country, but they still needed to go to the town of Yumekashi, where the woman lived. They had been traveling for quite a while when Asuma announced,

"Okay, why don't we take a rest. I'm going to go refill our water at that river. Shikamaru take the scroll."  
With that he threw the scroll to Shikamaru.

"Why do I have to hold it? Why don't you make Ino hold it?"

"Shikamaru, I believe you were the one who was late for our mission not Ino, am I right?"  
Shikamaru mumbled under his breath while Asuma left. Then Ino said something,

"Shikamaru, Why do you always go to that hill and stare at the clouds? It's so stupid."  
Shikamaru just glared at Ino. Then he admired her, admired how pretty she was. He had a crush on Ino. He would never tell her though, because she liked this hotshot guy named, Sasuke Uchiha. He knew he probably would never have a chance with her.  
Little did Shikamaru know that Ino, in fact, liked him more than she liked Sasuke. She wanted to go out with him, but she had felt he didn?t like her. So, she gave up hope on him and just decided to admire him.  
Suddenly, all three ninjas heard a noise from up above. Five mist ninjas came from all different directions. They all surrounded Ino, Chouji and Shikamaru. Asuma still hadn?t returned. The team was all on their own until Asuma came back.  
Shikamaru did his shadow possession jutsu on all five.

"Okay guys, I've got them with my jutsu."  
Ino and Chouji just nodded, they both knew Shikamaru?s jutsu used up his chakra quickly, so they moved fast. While they were attacking, Ino noticed Shikamaru had caught four of the mist ninjas, but she thought there were five. That's when Ino saw the fifth mist ninja come out from behind some bushes and ambushed Shikamaru.

"SHIKAMARU!" Ino screamed but it was too late.  
The mist ninja came up behind Shikamaru and stabbed him in the back. Shikamaru just fell, releasing the jutsu and the rest of the ninjas fled into hiding. Ino screamed Shikamaru's name again. Then there was Chouji's cry amongst all the noise,

"YOU'LL DIE FOR THAT!" There was noise of Chouji attacking the enemy, meanwhile, Ino ran over to Shikamaru. She was crying, and she was so scared for Shikamaru.  
For Shikamaru everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. He first felt the pain and the scream of Ino. He could tell Chouji was going after the enemy. Shikamaru still didn?t understand what had happened, he was in shock from the hit. Soon, he saw Ino by his side and he asked her,

"Ino, am I dying?"

"No, You're not dying, no you're not." Ino thought that if she said it then it was true. She said to comfort him but also herself. She was trying to believe that he wasn?t going to die.  
Chouji was fighting and he saw Shikamaru fall. Chouji saw the sword in his best friend. He swore revenge on the spot and attacked the enemy.  
Asuma heard so much noise and came as fast as he could. He saw Shikamaru on the ground and Ino sitting next to him. Then he saw Chouji kill a mist ninja. Then four more mist ninjas came down and started to go after Chouji and one toward Ino and Shikamaru. Asuma threw some shuriken at the one going towards Ino and Shikamaru. He went on toward Chouji to help him.

"Chouji go help Ino and Shikamaru." Chouji did not reply but ran over to Shikamaru.  
Chouji looked down on his friend. Shikamaru looked up and coughed a little.  
"Chouji, take good care of Ino."

"Shikamaru, I won't have to. You're going to be fine. We're going to get you back to Konoha and get you healed." Shikamaru didn't respond. Ino got really worried.

"Shikamaru" Shika? Shikamaru?" Ino shook him a little and he didn't open his eyes, he didn't say anything, he didn't move. Ino started crying again.  
"No, Shikamaru, you're not going to die. Shika, say something. SHIKA!"

"Ino, He's gone." Chouji looked at his best friend. Then he looked at Ino. Chouji couldn?t hold it, soon he began to cry too.  
Asuma defeated the enemy and walk over to where the three were. He saw Ino and Chouji crying and Shikamaru was just lying there. Asuma thought that Shikamaru was dead, but he wasn't sure. He checked Shikamaru's pulse and it was non-existent. Asuma gasped and couldn't believe it.

Shikamaru was dead.

They delivered the scroll to the woman, but without Shikamaru by their side. They returned to the village, but without Shikamaru.  
It was a month later and Shikamaru still wasn't there but Ino knew he wasn't ever coming. She couldn't get him off her mind. When she walked down the street she thought he would be there by her side but he wasn't. She cried herself to sleep almost every night.  
One day, Ino went to Shikamaru's favorite cloud watching spot. She sat in the grass crying, wishing she would see him there staring up at the sky watching the clouds he envied so much. It was now Ino, who envied the clouds for that was where Shikamaru was. She was sometimes happy for Shikamaru, because he was now with the clouds he always wanted to be with. To Ino, Shikamaru was there, but he wasn't. There was no Shikamaru.  
Chouji was always missing Shikamaru. He missed his buddy, the only one he would share his chips with. He remembered the days where Shikamaru and him would go watch clouds and eat chips. Shikamaru always said,

"Watching clouds and eating chips, It can't get any better than this huh, Chouji?" There were no days like that anymore. There was no more cloud watching and no more chip sharing. Life seemed so different without those words said by Shikamaru all the time,

"What a drag."  
Those words didn't exist anymore. There was no Shikamaru.  
Asuma noticed a significant change in the attitude of his students. Without Shikamaru, there was no one complaining about every little thing. In fact even though Asuma hated when Shikamaru complained, now that the boy was gone he started to miss the complaints and the muttering under the breath. There was no ponytail walking between the two other students he led. There was no Shikamaru.  
Ino and Chouji would go to the memorial, where all the names of ninjas who died in battle. They would sit there and stare at Shikamaru's name. Sometimes they would meet Kakashi there. He would nod to them and go on with his own worries. Ino and Chouji hung out more than they usually did, because they couldn't hang out with Shikamaru. That and they were the only ones who understood each other's pain.  
Ino would dream of Shikamaru, and so would Chouji. They would dream of what would happen if he never went away. Asuma would wonder how strong Shikamaru would be now. Shikamaru's family would invite Ino and Chouji over and they would talk about him and how they miss him so and comfort each other.   
When Christmas came she was going to buy a present for Shikamaru out of habit, but then hesitated and started crying at the store. So, Christmas was celebrated without Shikamaru. It was very cheery and they prayed that God would take good care of Shikamaru.  
Shikamaru looked down on them and smiled. He was glad they were happy and were getting by without him. He wished he had said one thing to Ino before he died. He wished he had told her that he loved her. He missed his friends so much, but knew they would be happy even though he might not have been there with them. He protected them. He made sure they were safe from all harm. He always watched over them.  
On Christmas day, they were opening their presents.  
Asuma found a gift hidden in his tree. He opened the gift and found a picture of him and Shikamaru in a gold frame. He wondered where it came from. He put it on his shelf next to the picture of their whole team. As he did this, a tear fell down his cheek.  
Chouji woke up first and was ripping open presents. He was searching for more and found a small wrapped present. He found it was a picture of when Chouji and Shikamaru were young. It was a picture of them eating chips and cloud gazing. He just held it and looked at it sadly.

Ino's mother found a present hidden in the tree. It had Ino's name on it.

"Ino, here, I found it hidden in the tree." Her mom handed Ino the gift and Ino opened it.  
In a box, Ino found a locket. It had a picture of Shikamaru on one side and on the other carved into the gold were the words,

"I will love you forever"

Ino knew it was from Shikamaru and held it to her heart and cried tears of joy.  
Ino knew Shikamaru would be with her forever.


End file.
